Don’t Shoot the Videographer - By Tom Liebman
Reprinted from clvs.ncraonline.org

Having one party unhappy with your presence makes for tricky taping, but imagine if you showed up for a job and 100 people were unhappy to see you and a camera. Such was the case for me a few years back when I accepted work from an attorney to videotape a township meeting.

I was professional from the start. I alerted the township that I would be arriving before the start of the meeting to choose the best spot, set up and lay cables before the public arrived. My client represented a developer who had filed a lawsuit challenging the township's zoning codes. He wanted me there in addition to a court reporter because the videotape would accurately record the tone of the discussions.

The room was filled and the meeting started. Soon, my client and a township supervisor began arguing. I was recording and tucked out of the way, but it became harder to blend into the woodwork when I realized the harsh words were concerning the camera and me. The supervisor said my presence was an attempt to intimidate and harass the crowd, and he insisted that I unplug the camera because I was stealing electricity from the township. My client insisted that unplugging the camera would violate state "sunshine" laws. The crowd, which had packed the room to object to a proposed shopping center, started to rumble as the bickering continued. "Unplug it!" a majority yelled. I tried to look to my client for direction, but he was involved with arguing his case.

I remained cool and continued taping. At one point the supervisor asked someone to call the fire marshal to see if the camera could be removed as a fire hazard. I remained calm, with the camera rolling, and when my client's offer to pay for the electricity was refused, he directed me to unplug, which I did, but then I made him very happy when I pulled from my video kit a night's worth of battery power. The meeting continued, the township had no argument, and my client got an accurate recording of the proceedings. My professionalism paid off, and I was eventually hired to videotape the rest of the meetings which lasted one year.

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